NATIONAL STARTUP DAY 2023: With a focus on promoting and encouraging upcoming businesses in the country, January 16 was adopted as the National Startup Day in 2022. Calling start-ups the backbone of the ‘new India’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formal adoption of this day. This year, as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, several events are being organised in more than 75 places across the country, with the aim to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation by involving the startup community.
These range from dedicated workshops for women entrepreneurs, training of incubators, and mentorship workshops, to stakeholder round tables, capacity-building workshops, startup pitching sessions, and more.
Here is all you need to know about this day:
National Startup Day 2023: Theme
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has organized the Startup India Innovation Week starting on January 10. This series of events will conclude on January 16. While there is no designated theme for the day, the first day of the Startup India Innovation Week saw events, including a webinar on “Founders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow”.
National Startup Day 2023: History
On January 15, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the adoption of National Startup Day on January 16. The same year India celebrated the first National Startup Day. During his interaction with budding entrepreneurs, via video conferencing, PM Modi praised the growth of startups over the past few years.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is organizing the felicitation ceremony for the winners of the National Startup Awards 2022. The award ceremony, announced as a flagship initiative under Startup India, aims to recognize and reward the excellence exhibited by startups and ecosystem enablers.
National Startup Day 2023: Significance
National Startup Day is marked to laud the achievements of the startup in India. The day is also commemorated to provide a platform for startup entrepreneurs to discuss innovation for India’s youth and their contribution to the economy.
It is also marked to promote the importance of the startup initiatives and held them to be part of the mainstream. Encouraging young people to take up entrepreneurship as a primary career option is also an agenda behind this initiative.
Motivational Quotes from Business Leaders
Nishith Rastogi, Founder & CEO of Locus
National Startup Day is a reminder of the boundless potential of entrepreneurship to create employment, drive meaningful innovation, and enable strong economic growth for the progress of our nation. Being an entrepreneur myself, I am extremely grateful for the tireless support extended by The Government of India to the ecosystem.
It motivates entrepreneurs to pursue relentless innovation with grit and determination. I believe the government’s visionary initiatives, such as Digital India, are ideal launchpads for Indian entrepreneurs to keep pushing boundaries to make a difference.
We at Locus promote a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation for good that empowers young guns within our organization to apply and file for patents. By doing so, we want to support them in their commitment to solving challenges of the global last-mile logistics industry”, said Nishith Rastogi, Founder, and CEO, of Locus.
Krutika Lal, Co-Founder & CMO, Aretto
The startup ecosystem has seen a shift from skepticism to nationwide adoption in the past decade, and we are now entering a new phase of exponential growth as e-commerce, digital payments, and data democratization continues to shape the future of business.
It has blossomed into a thriving community where collaboration and support are at the forefront. New designs, innovations, and ideas are constantly emerging and the audience is more open than ever to embracing local, homegrown startups. Together, we are growing as a unit and propelling the future of entrepreneurship.
Jitendra Chouksey, Co-founder & CEO of Fittr
PM Narendra Modi’s announcement of National Start-Up Day to holistically support startups through ideas and guidance has given assurance to aspiring entrepreneurs like us. Embarking a day to startups educates individuals about our critical role in the economy.
The support and motivation that we have received from the government have helped us utilize our profound knowledge to our full potential & thereby enhance public health and fitness solutions through our services and scientifically backed nutritional education tools around the globe.
It has also enabled us to tap into our indigenous resources and create employment for many people. We hope our government continues to support young entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem by believing in their vision.
Chetan Rexwal, Co-founder of Ekank Technologies
“The year 2022 was a year of realization for startups. On one hand, we witnessed the size of startups increasing rapidly, and on the other hand, we witnessed dried-up funding due to a major ‘funding winter’ amid a decline in investor confidence. The future of startups would be more about how startups can identify problems or core areas that have remained untouched from an accessibility perspective, and grow that using tech in a sustainable manner.
In 2023, we can expect startups to be more focused on profitability and unit economics, which is an economically sustainable and profitable business model. Unit economics will help them to understand whether the investment made in acquiring a customer is returning any marginal profit, and if so, how much and or how fast it is going to be.”
Harsh Pokharna, Cofounder and CEO – OkCredit
Start-ups in India are playing a vital role in structuring the overall ecosystem of the country. They are expected to contribute to 4-5% of the GDP as per reports in the next three to five years. With over 60,000 registered startups, the country needs a robust mechanism to enable growth and acceleration amongst the overall startup ecosystem.
The National Start-up day is a testimony of the strength the ecosystem brings to the nation. It displays and celebrates the tremendous talent India has to offer, and this is of paramount importance. We also believe the year 2023 will witness many women-led companies.
By taking a digital-first approach, start-ups offer unique solutions to tough problems across industries. Technology has been used creatively to support businesses, improve processes, and streamline operations .By generating several new job opportunities and revolutionising many industries, the ecosystem has helped us penetrate pristine regions with innovative technology.
The Startup20 initiative announced during the G20 initiative is a step in the right direction to facilitate the necessary collaboration. While we have made significant seventh anniversary of the Start-up India initiative, we still have a long way to go and the government’s intentions and actions to do so are encouraging. It is also essential for the start-ups to collaborate and seek guidance and mentorship from other experienced entrepreneurs.
Manu Rikhye, Partner, Merak Ventures
The start-up ecosystem, in 2022, was a significant driver of economic growth in India with entrepreneurs solving global problems, while building in India. India has developed a rich start-up eco-system with policy support, investor attention and a zeal for innovation. At the same time, Bharat has been an untapped and underserved space when it comes to the startup ecosystem.
The pandemic forced a shift in this, with tech talent forced to move back to their hometowns, which are pre-dominantly Tier 2,3,4 cities. Having worked in startups, with the knowledge and relationships to build businesses, and attract capital, led to an increase in the number of entrepreneurs in these cities. Today, tier 2 & 3 cities are the home ground for nearly 50% of recognized start-ups in the country, testament to the fact that there is tremendous opportunity in these regions. Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Indore alone saw 45 deals in 2022, compared to a total 39 deals from all Tier-2 cities in 2021.
Entrepreneurs who are solving real problems will naturally gravitate towards Bharat, with metro markets witnessing a growing saturation. A recent BCG report revealed that 50% of online shoppers are located in small cities and this is anticipated to reach 60% by 2030.
Solving local problems & providing solutions at scale in diverse sectors such as healthcare, education, home-grown, agriculture, etc., has also been a great help in the increasing number of start-ups from these parts of the country. With the upcoming 5G rollout, connectivity in Tier 2,3,4 cities will improve opening the door for tremendous growth potential for start-ups.
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